The following article, written by MN BBC Core Team member, Robert Kosuth, originally appeared in the Duluth News Tribune on January 19, 2015.

The ironclad U.S.-Israel alliance is the stuff of legend. And no wonder. For the U.S., Israel is a military platform in the Middle East. In exchange, Israel uses U.S. money, weapons and political cover to continue its occupation and colonization activities with impunity.

Undeterred, Palestinians requested that the United Nations Security Council support a one-year deadline for a two-state settlement. U.S. Rep. Samantha Power claims the U.S., too, yearns for a two-state solution but nevertheless orchestrated a defeat of the proposal in favor of more negotiations, during which time ever more Jewish-only settlements will be built and ever more Palestinian homes will be demolished.

Following the United Nations vote, the Palestinian Authority immediately moved to join the International Criminal Court, which allows it to sue Israel for war crimes and violations of international law. One might wonder why U.S.-Israel would be so adamantly opposing this move, too, if it had nothing to fear.

There is another way: boycott, divestment and sanctions, or BDS, and it’s an approach that’s growing. Right here in Minnesota we can tell the State Board of Investment to stop using Minnesota tax money to pay for Israeli bonds when the decision to renew them comes up later this year.

Jettisoning complicity with Israel’s apartheid policies is a moral and political imperative. Conversely, not doing so would be a violation of the public trust. State government bodies have made such decisions before; this is another one whose time has come.

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Introducing the Campaign

We are Palestinians, Jews, Christians, Muslims, students, professionals, parents, community members and allies working together to bring Palestine-centric education to Minnesota in order to promote justice and human rights.

We believe:

We, the people of Minnesota, have the moral obligation to make sound investments that will not aid the oppression of any one race, creed or people. Minnesota’s investment in Israel supports an apartheid system in both Israel and the Occupied Territories that causes thousands of civilian deaths, many of whom are children, and which involves the widespread abuse of human rights. This system defies a ruling by the International Court of Justice as well as more than 65 UN Resolutions, and violates the Fourth Geneva Convention. We demand that the state of Minnesota act on its good conscience and support the breaking of economic ties with the apartheid state of Israel.

We say, Minnesota divest from Israel Bonds, Divest for Justice in Palestine!